Monday, March 17, 2008

Shanty towns

These are some images of shanty towns in South Africa. Leave a comment for participation.





39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Robert Combs

It looks like the people who live here are very poor and confined to a small area.

Anonymous said...

Mitchell Van Dyke

I didn't picture it being so packed in. I figured there would be less living spaces for that amount of land. They make the best of their bad situation. They must be really resourceful to use all these raw materials to build a place to live in.

tiffany. said...

Tiffany Quach

this reminds me of vietnam in a way, with the tin roofs and houses.
everytime i look at pictures like this it makes me so sad. it always reminds me to give back and help people in need because we are very fortunate.

Anonymous said...

i pictured more glass-landish... not so much metal because they were so worried about the rain. I pictured like mexican dirt huts.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe there are so many people in such a small area. They are actually doing a pretty good job with their situation because they have 4 walls and a roof. I was expecting a metal frame and grass walls and rooves. It is very sad. I really hope we all can help them improve their life someday.

Anonymous said...

Nikki Pond

It sickens me that there are people living like this in the world, while some people are living in billion dollar homes. I can't even imagine living in these conditions and I honestly don't know how the world can allow this to happen to our fellow human beings...

Anonymous said...

Nikki Pond

It sickens me that there are people living like this in the world, while some people are living in billion dollar homes. I can't even imagine living in these conditions and I honestly don't know how the world can allow this to happen to our fellow human beings...

Anonymous said...

Katy Carnell

Wow, I never realized people actually were living so horribly. It looks incredibly packed and the conditions look awful. The houses look like they are made of paper, ready to fall apart!
:[

Anonymous said...

I thought the houses wouldn't be quite so crowded together and I thought that they would be more grassy and bamboo like. Not made with wood planks and rusting metal. These are all very depressing photos.

Anonymous said...

Lauren Ervin 2

I'm really surprised at how spread out all of these houses (if you can call them that) are. I am amazed at how incredibly resourceful these people have to be to make houses out of nothing.

Anonymous said...

Calvin Horne Block 2

This really paints a better picture in my mind. I only pictured a few houses, but now I see that there are tons of them just crammed together. These people have made the best in their situations, but they deserve better.

Sammee said...

Sammee Kubes

It kind of remids me of where the child from chapter 2 might live. I can just imagine a young girl being in those conditions for all of her short lived life and then going to Stephen's house. How overwhelming that must have been for her.

Gillian H said...

Gillian Harger Block 2

I think it's even more sad when you think about how many people had to fit into those tiny things. It wasn't just 2 or 3 people, it was entire families crammed into tiny, shabby living spaces.

Anonymous said...

so what exactly are the kids in the breakfast club complaining about?

-sam neel
per 2AB

Anonymous said...

Mmmm... very nice. That's pretty sad, too bad they live like that.
Lily Kral
per 2

Anonymous said...

That's extremely sad!! I built a home for a family in mexico with my youth group in a neighborhood that looked just like that.
Athanasia Dorrance
per 4

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's depressing. I can't believe people have to live in conditions like that. Kinda reminds me of the Hoovervilles during the depression.

Josh Gensler
per. 4

Anonymous said...

These images are very depressing and sad. The houses being so small and closely packed together is such a shame. There looks like their was no privacy for anyone.

Ben Harbolt
Per. 4

Anonymous said...

Wow the first picture is the most powereful. They are so close and tiny. You can tell how many people needed to live on this piece of land, but in a way I think they might be strategic. The closer the houses are the more shelter there is from the wind. But this is very sad.

Anonymous said...

This reminds me when we traveled through mexico. They actual look better then what i imagined because the book made it seem that they were not water proof. As in they had cloth sack bags for a roof. i am sure that these are not as nice as our houses, but at lest they have some sort of shelter and are semi-water proof.

Ian Walch
P.4AB

Anonymous said...

Tucker Williams 4AB

It looks like a tornado hit a Junkyard and they all fell strategicly into place to form all those little huts. How could you live in that? It would be so cold and miserable, all the white wealthy people in africa are inhumane!

Anonymous said...

Kevin Baese
Period 4

It is really sad to see all those houses packed so tightly together. It really makes me feel grateful for the warm house and all the things I have that others dont.

Smaudrey said...

Though it is sad, I like these pictures. Most likely becaue it reminds me so much of Costa Rica and Mexico, (The "real", non-tourist parts) which I find more interesting anyways.
-Audrey Richmann 2-

Anonymous said...

Oh dear!

It feels weird looking at those pictures, while being on a computer and having an iPod and a cell phone next to me. Meanwhile those people work so hard for a loaf of bread.

=(

Mona M.
Per. 4

Anonymous said...

Kristin Hortsch
Period 2

Wow, I can't believe how awful those conditions are. I mean, it's one thing to read about something like that in a story, but it's something completely different to actually see it. I didn't picture it so bad in my mind when I was reading the story.

Anonymous said...

When I look at these pictures, it just is a reminder of how easy we have it here. I couldn't even imagine having to live like that. Although it is hard to see people living this way, it is something that we all need to see and be reminded of.

Cara Harley
Block 2

Anonymous said...

Looking at these pictures gives me a clearer idea on what life is like for the people living in shanty towns. I think it's sad that the houses are so small and packed in and I feel bad that the living conditions are so poor there.

Patrick Browne
Period 4

Anonymous said...

Katie McCormick P.2

The shacks they described are literally shacks. I guess I pictured it a little nicer than that. No wonder they were worried about the rain; there's no way this is going to be much protection at all.

Conor Teichroeb said...

CONOR TEICHROEB

I didnt realize how packed in and makeshift those homes are. Those are actually hand made with scraps found on the ground. Its incredibly that people actually live like that in the world.

Anonymous said...

After reading the chapter in Cry, The Beloved Country describing the Shanty Towns, i was suprised to see how close these were together and how they were built using the resources they could find. It is very unfourtunate that they have to live this way, and i can see why they were worried about the winter and the rain.

Anonymous said...

Wow that is really sad. I didnt imagine that the houses were so densely packed together. It is good to have a real picture of what it is like in Africa.

krista anderson said...

Wow, this is way diffeent from what I imagined. I didn't realize they were so close together.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how some people live in such poor conditions. I didn't realize how compact the living was and how scrappy they were.

Ian McGetrick said...

I never imagined the shanty towns being so huge. It's crazy how families of 5 probably all have to fit into one little hut. I wonder what it's like to live in one of the huts when it's pouring down rain. I'm guessing you probably get really cold and wet.

Anonymous said...

Eric Davis

I didn't realize that the shanty towns could actually get so big as to look like real towns. I am also surprised that some of them seem to have real windows.

Anonymous said...

Sick at home, I watched Blood Diamond, taking place in 1999 in South Africa during the revolution. In the movie, the scenes resembled these pictures and as a fact, there are still 200,000 child soldiers fighting in South Africa.

Anonymous said...

Laura Henry (above)
I forgot my name.
haha

Anonymous said...

It's hard to imagine people that have lived like that for so long. And this was practically the whole black population in South Africa at some point. I'm glad the apartheid is dissolving now.

Anonymous said...

One things that's amazing to me is...how do they get it all together? It seems like they use a ton of different supplies for each house. Do they just have an ample supply of nails and hammers? Or are things just sitting on top of each other?